USER RESEARCHFor the Web and Applications

Dani Nordin :: @danigrrl :: tzk-design.com

Dani Nordinfounder, the zen kitchen

• UX Designer, teacher and author

• Work with Drupal teams to envision, prototype and test new functionality and make sense of complex content models.

• Author, Drupal for Designers (O’Reilly, 2011/2012)

Contact@danigrrldani@tzk-design.comtzk-design.com

What happens during the UX phase• Get an understanding of the site’s target users• Map out how users will flow through specific key tasks, and

what information needs to be there to support them• Find out what content exists for the current site, what needs

to be created, and how the content will be organized• Come up with a set of assumptions and standards that will

govern the project as you move forward

USER INTERVIEWS AND CONTEXTUAL INQUIRYLearn more about the real people who will be interacting with your project

User interviews: Why?• Helps separate stakeholder whims from what actual users

will find relevant• Includes perspectives from all the various user types

involved in your site: • End users• Content admins and moderators• Marketing team

• Can uncover needs not addressed by current design• Provides important and real data for personas, task flows

and other project deliverables

Contextual Inquiry: Why?• Watching a user do their work gives new insights that can’t

be gained from an interview.• Talking to users in their own environment builds trust and

repoire, makes participants more comfortable• Works particularly well for redesigns of existing

functionality

THE PROCESS

Step 1: Define User Types• Defined by behaviors they are looking to engage in• Enthusiast vs. casual browser• New account vs. existing customer

• What qualities do they share?• Age, gender, education?• Level of interest in, or knowledge of, your service?• Specific goals?

Step 2: Create a research plan• Define a goal for the study: what are you trying to learn?• Questions should focus on behaviors, not desires: • How does the participant solve this problem currently?• What do they like or dislike about their solution?• What tools do they use to solve this problem?• How important is solving this problem to them?

• It’s not about what they want, it’s about how they work.

Step 3: Recruit users• Goal: 2–3 users of each type (minimum)• Enlist client’s help in recruitment• Is there a budget to compensate participants?

Step 4: Conduct Interviews• Have a set of open-ended, non-leading questions ready• Record if possible• Take note of key insights, quotes• Take note of ideas you’ve heard in other interviews• Timing: ½ hour for interview; ½ hour for notes

Step 5: Analyze FindingsPull out key insights, quotes, ideasNote duplicate insights/commentsTools: Post-Its, Sharpies, butcher paper

POST-UPSA quick and visual way to analyze research findings, organize content, and solve sticky IA issues

Post-Ups: Why?• Helps quickly identify and prioritize major research themes • Helps quickly sort out content priorities• Tools are cheap and easy to move around• Butcher paper• Post-its• Sharpies

• Allows the team to work collaboratively, which is more efficient than working alone—particularly for complex navigational structures

The Post-Up IA Workshop• Initial architecture posted up on butcher paper• Include 4–6 people, all of whom have a stake in the site

(include content admins, not just execs)• Post architecture on wall• Each person gets 5 minutes to move things around• Have them think aloud• Videotape or record each person’s turn• Offer help, but avoid criticism or debate during each person’s turn• Take picture of result after each person finishes

• Finish with discussion and finalization of architecture• Document result in content strategy documents

Congregational Library: version 1

Congregational Library: final post-up

Content Collection/Documentation: GatherContent

Results• Ensured that all voices were heard, not just the executives• Enabled discussion of pages’ relevance and usefulness• Identified and prioritized new sections/pages that were

needed, and assigned stakeholders to them• Accomplished in two hours what would have taken

weeks of back and forth over email

VISUALIZING RESEARCH FINDINGSUX Deliverables

Personas

Task/User Flows

Wireframes

Sketches and Prototypes

Functional Requirements

QUESTIONS?@danigrrl on Twitterdani@tzk-design.com